Snyder's Soapbox: Avoid 'Little Brother Syndrome,' the worst of all looks for sports fans

I went to Indiana University. When I witnessed our football team do the unthinkable and actually win a national title, I can honestly say the absolute last thing on my mind was Purdue. Why would I think about anything other than just being happy about IU?

I don't get it.

But it happens, and it's a really bad look.

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Matt Snyder

I'm not going to pretend fans of my favorite teams are immune. I saw plenty of IU people talking trash about Purdue on social media in the wake of our title. I've heard -- and HATED -- "Green Bay sucks" chants in Wrigley Field. It's so stupid! And it screams "little brother," even if the Bears won the NFC North and a playoff game last year. Stop doing that, please!

The internet is good for so many reasons. Hell, I wouldn't have this job without it. I'm grateful for its existence. This area, though, is one of the areas where it's bad. Little Brother Syndrome permeates every corner.

A team wins in a walkoff? A bunch of naysayers show up in the comments. A fun player makes an incredible defensive play? There's always THAT GUY on Instagram to explain that even a Little League player could've made that play and everyone who is happy is actually a dumb loser. Someone posts on Facebook about a ballpark they love, but then here come the fans of the rival to explain to everyone why that park is actually a dump and the worst place ever and all the fans are morons and don't know ball. Have you ever heard that this particular ballpark is where fans cheer for fly balls as if they were home runs for a second? Yeah, it happens in all 30.

The nadir is the constant obsessing over the hated rival. If I'm an IU fan and IU is not playing Purdue, I'm sorry, but I just really don't give one iota of a crap what Purdue is doing. But we've all seen it, right? Insert any team with its rival into this discussion. We see people all over social media making comments about the team they hate, often more frequently than about their favorite team. I saw a Cardinals account last week make a snide remark about Pete Crow-Armstrong when the Cardinals won a game on a robbed home run catch. It wasn't against the Cubs.

That's Little Brother Syndrome behavior to a T.

It must be an utterly exhausting way to go through life.

I realize I'm far from qualified for such a position, but if I were your life coach, I'd suggest simply ignoring everything you hate in sports. Sports are merely a vehicle for our entertainment. Why make yourself angry over that? The key to a fruitful life is happiness. Why do you work? So you can put food on the table and a roof over your head, right? But why? So you can be comfortable. Why? Because comfort makes us happy. Everything is all about being happy.

Chanting about a team you hate after your favorite team wins the World Series? Hey, I'm sure some people would argue that's their happy place. For me, I think it's sad. Drop the obsessing with the rival that isn't even in the series and instead just be happy that your team won.